This invention relates to a submersible system for supporting apparatuses destined to be moved under water at a substantially constant depth.
More particularly, the invention concerns a system for moving within a water body elements such as apparatuses for oceanography surveys which are displaced at a determined submersion depth level when towed from a ship. Apparatuses adapted for seismic prospecting or for surveying the water bottom, such as seismic wave transmission sources, reception devices, sonars and echo-sounders, may for example be moved under water by the device according to the invention.
The prior art devices in this field may be illustrated by a device comprising two hulls of positive buoyancy interconnected through a central profiled platform which supports a seismic wave transmission source and through two cross-members, at least one of which, the front cross-member, includes a movable submersion paddle. The latter is monitored through a control system having the object of stabilizing the device substantially at a predetermined depth level. The transmission source is hydraulically actuated from a towing ship through an electrovalve system. Several devices may be simultaneously towed.